


it's the thought that counts (is it REALLY though)

by svalswords



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Birthday, F/F, Roller Coasters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 00:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17887910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svalswords/pseuds/svalswords
Summary: It's Rainbow Dash's birthday tomorrow, and Fluttershy has absolutely no idea what to do for her oldest friend. But it isn't too late to come up with an idea, right?She'll think of something. She's just not sure what yet.





	it's the thought that counts (is it REALLY though)

**Author's Note:**

> this is a birthday present for my friend leo!! happy birthday leo!! sorry this is so bad i'm so tired

"Thank you for helping me fix the rabbit hutch, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy proclaimed softly, as the two pegasi looked back on a job well done. It had taken all afternoon to reassemble the enclosure after a haphazard storm cloud had turned the majority of her back yard into a collection of wooden frames in a pile on the ground, but the two had managed to get the job done between them.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Fluttershy!" Rainbow grinned, watching as a few of the animals gingerly wandered back into their hideaways. "You just let me know when you need a hoof with something, and I'll be there! 'Sides, it's nothing you wouldn't do for me! There's loads of stuff you've helped me out with in the past!"

Fluttershy beamed modestly. "Well, it's good to know we're finally even!"

Rainbow chuckled. "Heh, yeah." She glanced up to the crimson-red sky, bathed in a soft light by the descending sun, before jumping up with a flash. "Crap crap  _crap_ , I gotta get going! I promised Twilight I'd return a book I borrowed from the library before it shuts!"

"Oh, okay," Fluttershy acknowledged with a smile. "Do you want me to come and look for it with you?"

"It's all cool!" the other mare brushed off frantically, dashing to the edge of the clearing to grab her saddlebags. "See ya at Sugarcube Corner tomorrow at 12!"

As Rainbow Dash zoomed off towards town, Fluttershy watched confusedly. "Wait. What's happening tomorrow?" she questioned, looking over to a nearby Angel - who rolled his eyes but hopped into the cottage to retrieve a calendar. He pushed it towards Fluttershy, who locked on to the next day's date and gulped.

"Oh no," she quivered, "it's Rainbow Dash's birthday!"

 

[*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clH-a4QTn3g)

 

"Oh, nononono!" Fluttershy shrieked, rushing in through the front door of her cottage and rushing over to her diary. There it was, clear as day: ' _23rd February, Rainbow Dash's birthday!! Don't forget to find a present!'_. (Past her had even tried to add in a little lightning bolt. Oh, how naive and carefree she had once been.)

Fluttershy sighed, sinking down onto the couch. "How could I have forgotten?" she lamented, head tilted back in frustration. "I know I've been busy preparing for the Breezie migration, but _she_ was busy with the  _Equestria Games_! That's no excuse...oh, what in Equestria am I going to do _now_?"

Her shame spiral was interrupted by the sound of Angel furiously tapping his foot on the table in front of her, his annoyed expression glaring at her.

"Oh, Angel, it's just no use," Fluttershy sighed, sinking further into her seat. "There's no  _way_ I'm going to be able to find anything this late in the day!"

More tapping. More glaring. Eventually, Angel just sent Fluttershy a pointed, exasperated look, as if to say, **'You ARE going to find something to give to her. She's your oldest friend.'**

Fluttershy sat there for a moment in silent contemplation, before flying up into the air. "You're right!" she declared. "There's still time to find something! I'll be back soon, Angel!"

And off she flew. Angel watched her for a moment in smug satisfaction, before hopping over to his food bowl.

Oh, wait. He sent her off before she gave him dinner...

Well. Her present had better be worth it.

 

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

 

"What should I get for her?" Fluttershy murmured to herself as she wove through the hordes of ponies still out at the market. "Come on, Fluttershy, think. This is Rainbow Dash. She likes fast things, she likes cool things, she likes--"

Unfortunately for her inspired rant, the pegasus was forced to grind to a sudden halt when she reached a group of ponies bunched around one stall in particular.

"Step right up, step right up!" one of the colts behind the desk was proclaiming. "Be one of the first ponies to test the Ultra-Mecha-Hyper-Speed 'Coaster! The only-"

"And best!" the second colt interjected.

"--rollercoaster in Ponyville!" the first colt finished. "Only a limited number of seats available, so get your discounted tickets now!"

The crowd surrounding the stall burst into cries as ponies tried to push to the front of the huddle. Fluttershy stood at the very back, unsurely; she didn't dare try to push anywhere  _near_ the front.

"I have to say, I was rather surprised when I found out myself," a prim and proper voice commented from beside the pegasus. Fluttershy turned her head to find Rarity distractedly applying her mascara. "To think anypony would build a  _rollercoaster_ outside of Ponyville! We're a little old town, we aren't Fillydelphia! To be perfectly honest, the  _last_ thing we need is endless lines of shouting ponies queuing for hours around the Town Hall."

"Why is it such a bad thing?" Fluttershy asked curiously, watching the crowd warily. "I mean, it's something for ponies to do for fun, isn't it?"

Rarity sniffed aloofly. "I suppose," she admitted, "if hurdling towards the ground at 50mph is your idea of fun. But, I have to admit, I  _do_ know a handful of ponies that would find the idea quite thrilling. It's almost a shame I've already found a gift for Rainbow Dash for tomorrow..." She trailed off, before glancing up at her friend. "What do you think?"

Fluttershy ducked her head sheepishly. "Is it that obvious that I haven't bought her anything yet?"

"Oh, come  _on_ , dear," Rarity reassured. "It's perfectly understandable. You  _have_ been awfully busy recently. Besides, I'm the only pony that's usually out this late, and I hardly think you're interested in riding that mechanical _monstrosity_."

"Well, I think Rainbow Dash would be very interested in riding that rollercoaster," Fluttershy stated, raising her head determinedly before glancing back at the crowd. "...Do you think they'll have any tickets left?"

Luckily for her, the crowd seemed to subside rather quickly, until there was just the two colts left at the desk. Fluttershy took a breath, looked over to Rarity (who gave her a supportive nod) and stepped towards the colts.

The first noticed her at once. "Hello there, miss!" he called out. "Would you happen to be interested in the experience of a lifetime?"

"Oh, well, not for me, no," Fluttershy clarified meekly, as she trotted towards the stall. "But I have a friend - Rainbow Dash, she's a weatherpony - and she'd definitely be up for--"

" _Rainbow Dash?_ _!_ " the second colt blurted out, before receiving a scathing look from the first colt and receding slightly.

But Fluttershy didn't notice this. "Oh, yes," she continued amiably, "she's a really old friend of mine! My name's Fluttershy, and me and Rainbow went to flight school together, you see, and it's her birthday tomorrow, and it's really important that I find a present for her, because--"

 The second colt burst in to the conversation again, wings fluttering in excitement. "That's so  _awesome_!! My name's Cirrus Swirl and it's so awesome to meet a friend of Rainbow Dash! She's so cool! Did you see the time she did a Sonic Rainboom at Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding?? I couldn't believe it! And then she did it AGAIN at Princess Twilight's coronation!! It was so--"

"Awesome," the first colt cut in dryly. "Yeah. We gathered." He turned to Fluttershy apologetically. "I'm so sorry about that. I'm Cumulus Swirl, and this is my brother, Cirrus. We're doing work experience right now at Cloudsdale Tech, and they've sent us out on advertising duty."

"Oh, it's alright," Fluttershy consoled. "Rainbow speaks in exactly the same way. I think I'm used to it by now." She paused for a moment, looking down at a flyer on the counter. "Whereabouts is the, um, Ultra-Mecha-Hyper-Speed 'Coaster, anyway?"

"About half a mile out from Ponyville Main Station," Cumulus clarified. "They just finished putting it together last night. Took a lot of work, apparently."

"'Course, it wouldn't have been so difficult if we'd had someone as awesome as Rainbow Dash on the team!" Cirrus interjected, eyes bright.

At the mention of her friend, Fluttershy came back to her senses. "Right! Yes. Um. Could I get a ticket for the rollercoaster?"

"When would you like to ride?"

"Would tomorrow night be okay?"

At the colt's nod, she handed over a few bits, and Cumulus slid her a ticket, which she put straight into her saddle bags. "Thank you very much!" Fluttershy beamed. "Rainbow Dash will be so excited when she gets her present!"

At this, Rarity, who had been browsing a fabric stall opposite while waiting for her friend, scoffed in surprise. "Fluttershy, darling," she began, trotting over to her friend and carrying a rather large role of deep turquoise fabric in her magical aura, "surely you aren't saying you're leaving Rainbow to ride the rollercoaster on her own?"

Fluttershy gave Rarity a confused look. "What do you mean?" she asked unsurely.

"Well, you don't even know what the rollercoaster will be  _like_!" the unicorn pointed out. "And - well, to be frank, I wouldn't put myself up for the role - but I feel as though  _somepony_ should ride the rollercoaster with her."

At this, Fluttershy's eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh, no. Nono, I couldn't do that. You said it yourself, it'll be hurdling towards the ground at 50mph!"

"Well, it may not!" Rarity glanced over to Cumulus. "Does it do that?"

Cumulus frowned in thought. "It might well do," he offered.

Rarity turned back to Fluttershy. "He said it  _might_!"

 

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

 

"Why are you so insistent on me riding the rollercoaster anyway?" Fluttershy wondered aloud as she sipped on her tea. The pair had dropped by a small café on the bank of the river on the way back from the market (after Rarity had assured the colts that they would be returning the next day to purchase another ticket, so that they'd put one aside for Fluttershy, and after Rarity had charmed the owner of the café to stay open for "just a little longer, perhaps only ten minutes or so"), and after the exchange the two had had, Fluttershy was starting to get a little bit curious.

"Oh! Ahah. You know," Rarity laughed in a sort of a hoity-toity and obviously fake way, "no reason." She levitated her teacup towards her and took a most unladylike swig of her tea, so as to not be able to answer any more questions.

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Rarity, is everything okay?"

"Mm-hm!" Rarity managed through her mouthful of scalding hot tea (which she'd realized was more or less impossible to swallow at its current temperature and was trying to more or less hold it there until the temperature dropped low enough to make it palatable).

Not entirely convinced but not really wanting a casualty on her hooves, Fluttershy glanced out through the window at the two colts, now packing up their stall and getting ready to fly back up to Cloudsdale. "It was so strange to see somepony that idolizes Rainbow Dash like that," she stated. "I mean, she's always just been Rainbow to me. Not Rainbow Dash, Super Flyer. You know?"

Rarity nodded uncomfortably.

"I know we've all done a lot of good things to help Equestria," Fluttershy continued, "but I don't ever see ponies stopping me or Pinkie or Applejack in the street, you know? Nopony ever says, 'look, there's Fluttershy, she's good with animals,' or anything. I guess my accomplishments just aren't as big as yours and Rainbow's and Twilight's."

At this, Rarity couldn't stay silent any longer; still unable to swallow the boiling tea, she spat it out in indignation. "Fluttershy, you simply cannot be so hard on yourself! The things you have accomplished are most certainly big. One day, you're going to open Equestria's biggest animal sanctuary, and everypony's going to say, 'look, there's Fluttershy, she's the best with animals in the whole of Equestria,' and it's going to be simply wonderful."

"You really think so?" Fluttershy questioned.

"I  _know_ so," Rarity replied confidently. "...And...since I'm _fully_ aware you're going to ask me again, but I'm not quite convinced my mouth would survive being scalded from the inside out as a diversion any more times, let's just say I certainly have my _reasons_ for being so persistent. But, trust me, dear - you'll thank me."

There was a moment of silence, interrupted only by the clinking of pottery and the pouring of hot water.

"...do they do Band-Aids for the inside of your mouth? I think I need about seventeen of them."

 

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

 

That night, Fluttershy found it difficult to fall asleep. Angel hadn't been very happy with her when she'd arrived back at the cottage - even though he was perfectly capable of getting his own dinner, and both of them knew it - which had held her up on her usual schedule, and before she knew it, it was 11:30pm and she still had no idea what Rarity had been getting at back in the café.

No matter how hard Fluttershy tried, she just couldn't think of any reason why her friend would have been so persistent with her. As clear as it was that Rainbow Dash was definitely a rollercoaster kind of mare, it was equally clear that Fluttershy was  _not_ one of those mares. And she really had no clue why Rarity had been so insistent earlier that day.

After all, it wasn't exactly fundamental to the ride that she rode the rollercoaster with Rainbow. The pegasus was a maniac for them - as anypony from their own Cloudsdale Tech class would have remembered - and she'd have been fine with or without the company.

With that said, though, the company wasn't really a bad thing. After all, if Fluttershy thought about it a little more, it probably wouldn't be very fair to have Rainbow spend arguably the most exciting part of her birthday - 'arguably' being the key word, depending on what Pinkie was planning for the party - alone. And it  _was_ going to be her present, and she  _did_ want to see what Rainbow thought of the rollercoaster...

She was going to regret this.

 

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

 

Fluttershy woke up especially early the next morning to rush to the market. Of course, she wasn't exactly _certain_ that the two colts would be there again (she didn't really have any reason to think they would be whatsoever) but it was definitely worth a try. She needed to get that second ticket before the party.

She flew out of the door, across the outskirts of town and into the Ponyville main square, where a few ponies were setting up their wares. One or two of the salesponies gave Fluttershy a wave in greeting, which she would have returned if she wasn't in such a rush.

When she reached the corner where the two colts had been the previous evening, Fluttershy wasn't necessarily surprised to find that they weren't there, but she was still dismayed. She sat on the edge of the fountain in disappointment, slumping slightly into the stone base.

"Fluttershy?" she heard a voice call out. She lifted her head to see Cumulus and Cirrus setting up their stall on the other side of the square.

"Oh, thank Celestia you're here," she sighed relievedly, digging into her saddlebags to bring out her bag of bits. "I was wondering if maybe you had that other ticket after all?"

Cumulus grinned. "We can do you one better," he offered.

 

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

 

"Wooo!!! Happy birthday, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie cheered, as colored confetti rained down through Sugarcube Corner. "Who's the special birthday pony?  _You're_ the special birthday pony!"

"You didn't hafta do this, y'know," Rainbow argued good-naturedly, grinning at the group of ponies huddled around her. "But thanks, you guys! This birthday's gonna be  _awesome_!"

"Oh, well, if you're interested in setting the tone, I have the feeling your birthday presents will do just the trick," Rarity announced, levitating the pile over to the counter and sending Fluttershy a conspiratory wink.

Rainbow tore through the stack pretty quickly, her gifts ranging from some new flight goggles - "I'll be honest, dear, every time I see the ones you have at the present, I get the urge to throw up into a bag" - to a book on Wonderbolts history - "It's a 2 in 1 book! So it's two books. In one. How exciting is that?!" - to a new throw for her to lay over the bottom of her bed - "So you don't go leaving Tank to sleep on the floor no more. I know it's cloud, Rainbow Dash, but it's still gotta be mighty uncomfortable."

At last, it was Fluttershy's turn. Rainbow picked up the envelope and frowned. "Is this it?" she questioned (after which, Applejack kicked her in the shins, causing her to add, "I mean, I can't  _wait_ to see what's inside!").

Opening it up, she took out the two slips of paper and read aloud, "'You have been invited to ride the premiere of Ponyville's brand-new Ultra-Mecha-Hyper-Speed 'Coaster! Come along at 4pm and take your seats in...the very front?!' Fluttershy, how did you get tickets for  _right at the front_ of a brand new totally awesome rollercoaster?"

Fluttershy just beamed. "I know some very nice colts."

 

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

 

"Are you ladies ready?" Cumulus questioned with a grin, as Fluttershy and Rainbow approached the front of the line of ponies to board the rollercoaster.

"You know it!" Rainbow cheered, bouncing on her hooves. "This is gonna be totally awesome!"

"It really is!" Cirrus cheered along with her.

Cumulus stared at his brother in amusement. "Cirrus, you're not getting on."

The ponies in front of Rainbow and Fluttershy boarded their carriage, and the pair trotted over to the front carriage of the rollercoaster.

"Good luck!" the brothers shouted at the two as the rollercoaster began to move - but Fluttershy was long gone, and Rainbow was already screaming.

 

"THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!"

 

**Author's Note:**

> "Do you think they know this is a date?" Applejack questioned, as she and Rarity sat on a nearby bench and watched the carriage shoot around the track.
> 
> Rarity scoffed. "Don't hold your breath."


End file.
